BOG Vice Chairwoman Seeks To Make Return to N.C. Senate

On July 19, exactly a week after being elected vice chairman of the UNC-system Board of Governors, Little filed to run for the N.C. Senate.

Running in newly created District 22 -- an open, one member district -- Little is confident she will return to the Senate after an eight-year hiatus.

Little said she decided to run for a Senate position because she got a taste of serving in the N.C. Senate in 1994 and is eager to come back for more.

"I have served in the Senate before," Little said. "I enjoyed serving and thought I did a good job."

Little lost her Senate seat in 1996 when she placed third in the election for a two-member district behind Democrats Ellie Kinnaird and Howard Lee.

"I am a Republican, and traditionally Republicans don't do well in Orange County," Little said.

In addition to serving in the Senate, Little -- a retired teacher -- has sat on a myriad of educational boards, including the BOG, the N.C. State Board of Education and the Moore County Board of Education.

"I've always been very interested in education," she said. "Education is a very big part of my life."

Although Little can not serve as both a member of the BOG and a state senator, she said education will remain one of her top priorities if elected. Other key issues she said she hopes to address are the dismal condition of the state's economy and the state's budget woes.

Little said that many North Carolinians, especially in her district -- which encompasses Moore, Lee and part of Harnett counties -- are without jobs and that citizens must be provided an opportunity to work in order for the state to escape a recurring deficit.

"If people do not have jobs, they are not creating revenue," she said.

Little said she likes the idea of serving in a single-member district because she expects she would be able to have more face time with her constituents if elected.

"You have the opportunity to know the people better and to do a better job for them," she said. "Politics is local."

Little's district was carved out of former District 16 as a result of an N.C. Supreme Court decision upholding a Superior Court ruling that states that multi-member districts are in violation of North Carolina's constitution.

With the authority of the higher court's ruling, N.C. Superior Court Judge Knox Jenkins redrew the state legislative districts himself after the N.C. General Assembly failed to draw satisfactory district lines. Jenkins placed multi-member districts like the old District 16 on the chopping block.

Harris Blake, a Senate candidate whom Little will face in the Republican primary, also lauded the benefits of single-member districts.

"Geographically, this district is do-able," he said. "(Constituents) will know exactly who their senator is in Raleigh."

Blake said that to date the race has been pretty low-key.

"So far, there hasn't been any head-to-head competition," he said.

In addition to Little and Blake, Republicans Bobby Ray Hall and Tim McNeill and Democrats Wanda Hunt and Jimmy Love are vying for the District 22 senate seat.

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.